Young Could Play Against Spurs

Second-year guard Nick Young, who has yet to play during the preseason due soreness in his left knee, practiced the last three days and could play at San Antonio tomorrow night if all goes well in the morning shootaround.

"He practiced all three days and he was really awesome today," Jordan said. "He was probably the best player in practice today. I would think that if he recovers tonight and tomorrow morning and is feeling fine, he'll play."

- Earlier today, the team released DerMarr Johnson and Linton Johnson, trimming the roster to 15 players. DerMarr Johnson had some strong moments during the preseason and made a case for himself as an option at guard, but the team elected to stick with Juan Dixon and Dee Brown, both of whom hold partially guaranteed deals. DerMarr and Linton had non-guaranteed contracts.

My question to Eddie: "Did DerMarr make things interesting for you with the way he played?"

Jordan: "They both made things interesting," Jordan said. "Both of those guys were right there on the cusp. They did a lot of good things for us and both were intriguing to us - DerMarr Johnson at 6-9, he played well in games. But we thought, overall, that we like the 14, 15 guys we have."

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As bad as things seem now minus BTH and Agent Zero for all or most of the season, I shudder to hear that one of our top young players NY is being allowed to play with a knee injury that will require surgery. Any sane GM would send him to a specialist like Dr. Andrews to see if he needed the surgery ASAP. The Wizards team doctors have shown that they misdiagnose, mistreat, and allow injured players to play before they are fully rehabbed.

It's no coincidence that our team's star player has had 3 knee surgeries in a little over a year, CB3 was allowed to play with a torn labrum in his hip, and that NY is now admitting his knee is bad enough to require offseason surgery. It's a shame that any professional sports franchise would continue to use the same orthopaedists who repeatedly misdiagnose injuries. Would any of us trust those doctors or be willing to go to them when are careers are at stake? I think that this is a much bigger issue than how the team will fare this year.

I'm always an optimist, but the realist in me says this is a lost season minus our only legit center and our star PG who may not be back until February. Why would Wizards management continue to risk injury to their top draft pick from last year? If he has a knee injury, send him to a specailist and get it taken care of now.

Ivan,
Can we get an official statement from the Wizards on what the injury to NY actually is? There is a lot of justified concern he may end up doing more harm to it if it does require surgery. Not sure what sort of condition causes you to miss a couple of weeks of practice and then return as the best player in practice...probably says more about the current team than the injury though.

Note to wizfan89:I could not have said it better myself this medical staff is a joke they have singlehandidly disabled this squad, and everyone has got their collective head in the sand the next thing you'll hear is Nick is out for the year.Team doctors are supposed to correctly diagnose injuries and give a timetable for a players return with these jokers that never happens one day its a sprain the next thing you hear its four to six months!! Someone needs to correct this situation before it goes on any further and that means now!! Ernie Grunfeld.

Ditto on the medical staff. Nick really should get advice from somewhere else. I'm thinking that's exactly what Brendan did; that's why he did in fact go to NYC for surgery (and not here).
I look at Carlos Rogers on the Redskins and how he has healed and is better than ever, having a record season so far, after knee surgery. I hear he did go to this Dr Andrews as referenced in AL. Sure wish Gilbert did, and I think Nick should get another opinion as well. He's too young!

"Former Wizard Roger Mason Jr., who signed a two-year, $7.2-million contract with the Spurs in July, has averaged 7.8 points on 37.1 percent shooting in the preseason and is slated to be in the team's regular rotation."

You just couldn't resist digging the knife in further couldn't you, Ivan.

arenas out until february? where are you getting that from? as a guy who has had his ACL reconstructed and missed 6 months of football, i can't understand how a minor arthroscopic surgery on arenas could take more than 4-6 weeks total. it makes no sense. he is now gun shy and being way too cautious.

Note to washingtonian that the Redskins owner doesn't skimp on the use of medical experts outside the team's doctors. It's no coincidence that Carlos Rogers had his surgery done by Dr. Andrews in AL as well as Reggie Bush of NO this week. NY should be seeing an expert in knee injuries like Dr. Andrews before continuing to play with an injury that is apparently more than minor. I wouldn't trust the Wizards' team doctors to treat me for a hang nail.

Re: BTH, the team doctors initially diagnosed a 'sprain', but he was smart to consult hand specialists in NY that immediately recommended surgery. As much as it hurt to lose him for possibly the season, it was in his and the team's best interests that he have it taken care of right away than try to rehab and then have the surgery anyways.

I'm very disappointed that Ernie Grunfeld continues to bury his head in the sand on the ongoing issues involving the team's medical staff. If he's in charge of all basketball operations, he should be the one who makes the decision about retaining a new set of team doctors and/or having the injured players see specialists. Maybe there is more to it than meets the eye as poster mentioned last year about Abe Pollin's long-term relationship with the team's orthopaedic practice. I personally will not be buying tickets for this year as it appears that Wizards mgmt. is more concerned with PR moves like re-signing damaged goods (Agent Zero) than trying to build a long-term contender.